Employee union slams BSNL over BCG revival contract; accuses management of taking superficial measures

BSNL

BSNL’s employee union has accused the state-run telco’s management of engaging in superficial measures by hiring Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to develop a three-year transformation roadmap aimed at effectively competing with private telecom operators.

The union further said that the telco’s plan to outsource 90 percent of its work will lead to further wastage of resources and underutilisation of existing manpower.

Terming the BCG exercise as ‘futile”, BSNL’s employee union (BSNLEU) said that it has resulted in an unnecessary expenditure of Rs 132.16 crore.

“Without addressing the core issue, it is regrettable that BSNL Management has resorted to undertaking cosmetic exercises. In the view of BSNLEU, the engagement of BCG is a futile exercise. We suggest that the Management leverage the existing talent and experience within its workforce,” the employee union sent in a letter dated May 27 to P.K. Purwar, CMD of BSNL.

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Since BSNL began incurring losses in the fiscal year 2009-2010, the management has engaged consultants such as BCG, Deloitte and KPMG, fully implementing their recommendations.

“Despite these measures, the condition of BSNL has deteriorated further, indicating that the root of the problem lies elsewhere. Basically, the decline of BSNL is attributable to the company's inability to expand its networks with state-of-the-art technology,” the union said.

The union further alleged that the state-run telco is not utilising the inhouse talent and experience to their full potential.

“During the meeting held on May 24, 2024, unions and associations expressed their deep concern over the non-settlement of burning HR issues, such as the non-settlement of wage revision, which is demotivating the employees. The Management needs to address these concerns appropriately,” BSNLEU said in the letter.

From 2007 to 2012, the union said that BSNL was unable to procure equipments necessary for the expansion of its mobile networks. “Subsequently, the Management’s failure in the timely deployment of 4G and 5G technologies has significantly contributed to the current crisis.”

The union further alleged that "discriminatory policies" by the government have significantly impacted BSNL's financial condition.

“...the management cannot fully absolve itself from its failures. We have no hesitation in stating that, government-imposed obstacles, such as the denial of permission for the upgradation of BSNL’s 4Gcompatible BTSs and prohibiting BSNL from procuring 4G equipment from global vendors on par with private operators, have hindered BSNL’s progress,” it further said in the letter.

Had BSNL launched its 4G services on time, the union said that the telco would not have experienced massive exodus of customers and could have substantially expanded its customer base and increased revenue.

For the nine months ended December, BSNL’s revenue rose 1.2 percent to Rs 12,915 crore. Losses narrowed to Rs 4,520 crore in the April to December period from Rs 5,457 crore in the same period a year ago.

In 27 consecutive months till March, the company lost 26.2 million subscribers, taking its total subscriber base to 88.06 million as of March.